3 courts, 2 states battling to control widow's estate

Legal logjam created by children strands woman, 85, in Texas

JOHN MACCORMACK, San Antonio Express-news

Published
6:30 am CST, Sunday, January 1, 2006

SAN ANTONIO - Stuck in San Antonio for the past 10 months as the central figure in a complex and contentious family probate battle, Lillian Glasser, a wealthy 85-year-old widow from New Jersey, is despairing of ever going home.

"I can't take it anymore. I'm afraid I'll never live to see New Jersey again," Glasser said. "I never did anything. I'm the victim of a bunch of nuts."

According to Glasser's lawyer, friends and family members, her mood is becoming increasingly morbid and pessimistic. To one, she remarked bitterly that the only way she'll leave Texas is in a box.

"She's in a desperate state here. If she doesn't get out of Texas, the woman is going to give up," said Karen Pena, Glasser's court-appointed lawyer in San Antonio.

But the guardianship and estate dispute involving her son Mark Glasser of Miami, her daughter Suzanne Mathews of Alamo Heights and Rick Smith, a nephew from Florida, shows no signs of being settled soon.

Many parties involved

Nearly 20 lawyers and three courts are involved — a Bexar County probate court, a state court in New Jersey and a federal court in San Antonio.

But it remains unclear which court will decide the critical issues. And with no discernible movement in the legal logjam, Glasser will remain in an Alamo Heights apartment, watched by 24-hour caretakers, instead of a luxurious apartment in Boca Raton, Fla., where she traditionally wintered with friends.

The widow of a New Jersey physician and a lifelong resident of that state, Glasser was brought to Texas by Mathews in February for what she thought was a short stay. Within a month, a San Antonio doctor declared her incapacitated, and her daughter was named her temporary guardian, a role she relinquished after her brother and cousin sued. Months before bringing her mother to Texas, Mathews activated power of attorney and took control of most of Glasser's $25 million estate.

"I blame my son-in-law and daughter. They are very high-livers. This is the end result."

Inheritance at stake

In court filings, Mark Glasser accuses his sister of bringing their mother here to get complete control of her as part of a plan to seize her assets and cheat him of his inheritance.

Though Mathews has declined to comment, her lawyers said the charges of misconduct are groundless and that she always has acted in her mother's best interest. Mathews' lead lawyer, Ricardo Cedillo, accused the other side of dodging a trial in Bexar County Probate Court, where the litigation began in March.

Legal experts say Glasser's Kafkaesque dilemma provides a case study of what can happen in probate matters where different state courts are not obligated to work together or recognize each other's authority.

A trial set for Dec. 5 in Bexar County Probate Court was canceled when Mark Glasser petitioned to remove the case to federal court. U.S. District Judge Fred Biery has yet to rule on whether he will accept all or part of it. In the meantime, a New Jersey judge is deciding whether he will issue an order asserting jurisdiction.

But Robert Bortek, a New Jersey lawyer representing Mathews, argued against Superior Court Judge Alexander Waugh asserting jurisdiction over the case. Instead, he urged the judge to permit the Texas courts to see the case through.